The Wall of Winnipeg and Me

A Novel

By: Mariana Zapata

Narrated by: Stephen Dexter, Emma Wilder

Length: 17 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Mariana Zapata’s most beloved book, The Wall of Winnipeg and Me—now with new exclusive content!

Vanessa Mazur refuses to feel bad for quitting—she knows she’s doing the right thing. The thankless job of personal assistant to the top defensive end in the National Football Organization was always supposed to be temporary. She has plans for her life, and none of them include washing extra-large underwear one more day for a man who could never find it in him to tell her good morning, congratulate her on a job well done, or wish her a happy birthday—even when she was spending it working for him.

The legendary “Wall of Winnipeg” may be adored by thousands, but after two years Van has had enough.

But when Aiden Graves shows up at her door begging her to come back, she’s beyond shocked. Mr. Walled-Off Emotions is actually letting his guard down for once. And she’s even more dumbstruck when he explains that her job description is about to become even more outrageous: something that takes the “personal” in personal assistant to a whole new level.

What do you say to the man who is used to getting everything he wants?

©2023 Mariana Zapata (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

Fantastic!

I loved the audiobook and the extra content that's been added since the original one. having both narrators really added to the story for me.

Slow burn

This author is new to me. I’ve listened to two of her books so far.
Besides the use of the Lords name in vain….. I appreciate the build up of the relationship before any intimacy.

Awesome

It has been a few years, since I have used an audiobook to listen to a book I was reading, and it was incredibly enjoyable. The performances were wonderful, and it was great to listen to! Definitely recommend! 

Missing the original narrator

I Love Mariana Zapata and I love this story. Callie Dalton’s version was amazing. It’s a shame they didn’t have her redo the book. Emma is a great narrator but lines that are beloved fell flat. Her voice was not Vanessa. The male narrator sounded more like a CPA than a football player. I bought this to support Mariana but will relisten to the original on repeat like always.

Loved hearing Aiden’s voice

I love this story and I knew that wouldn’t change. However, I loved the duet narration even more than I thought I would. Being able to hear Aidens voice brought the story to life.

A Slooow Burn That I Love

I love a good character study and don’t mind a slow emotional burn. MZ has this mastered. This is very slow, just letting those know who need the more ‘action.’ I loved this story and will listen again.

Loved

The duet narration really made this slow burn romance come to life. Totally worth a credit.

Second time around

First, if you never heard the original recording of this book, it’s quite possible you will have a completely different view. I listened to the original recording of this book several years ago, and at the time I was able to borrow it from, what is now, Audible Plus. But after listening to it, I didn’t purchase it because I knew I wouldn’t listen to it again. This time I had to purchase it to listen.

I enjoyed the dual narration this time, but I missed Callie Dalton’s FMC narration. (Though Emma Wilder did a fine job… it’s just different.)

I love Marianna Zapata’s books, She’s the queen of slow burn for sure, but this story still just doesn’t click with me. That said, I did not hate it! Sometimes, I think I’m missing the ability to understand the MMC if I don’t get any of the story from his perspective. Yes you hear “his voice” but none of the story is told from his perspective so, for me it’s a difficult connect. He can be a grump… but understanding what is going on in his mind while he is outwardly grumpy toward the FMC just helps me understand the character better. It’s more of a full picture thing. I love how Mariana writes and she will always be an automatic “purchase” for me.

Love a slow burn

The anticipation in this book kept me up all night! The voice actors were perfect and the story was funny, emotional, and amazing!

”I don’t mind you.”

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: 💙💚❤️💜💖
Steam: 🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📙📔
World building: 🌏🌍🌏🌎🌍
Character development: 🤓😉☺️😍🥰
Narration: 🎙🎙🎙🎙🎙
Narration Type: ✨Duet Narration✨

The heroine: Vanessa Mazur - she is frustrated with her boss of two years. She is his assistant, girl-Friday and everything else and he is completely oblivious to all the trouble he causes around him that she has to deal with. He makes decisions and because he has better things to do, she always seems to have to handle the fallout. He had changed since he ruptured his achilles tendon early last season, he had changed. She was stuck dealing with his crankiness even though she could understand his fears, though he would never admit to having fears. He was just a jerk.

The Hero: Aiden Graves (a.k.a. The Wall of Winnipeg) - He is the top defensive end in professional football and three-time defensive player of the year. He was smart, fast, coordinated and didn’t consume animal protein. He was also extremely handsome and was almost never told no. He liked his life in a certain way and had Vanessa to organize it that way.

The Story: Vanessa had a bit of a crush on Aiden, which is probably why she had worked for him for two years when she really wants to be her own boss. Though her bank balance was finally where she needed it to be, with a year's salary saved up so she could try to make her own dreams come true. She had started to build up her business and was ready to go at it full-time, so she gives him her notice. One day when Vanessa had enough of his crap, she up and walks out, before Aiden even has a replacement.

“Just as I opened the door, and before I could talk myself out of it, I mouthed, “I deserve better, asshole,” making sure he read my lips as I did it. Then I raised my middle finger up at him and waved good-bye with it. I hope they both got syphilis.”

It isn’t long before Aiden shows up at her apartment begging her to come back. Van has quite a contentious relationship with Aiden, though I think Aiden doesn’t realize it. He is so laid back and in his own head that he is pretty oblivious to the feelings of the people around him. He also has a personality where he is quiet, introspective and a man of very few words. Aiden makes Van an offer she can’t refuse and despite their differences, she agrees.

“Finally, Aiden shrugged those massive, rounded shoulders and made sure our gazes met. “I like you as much as I like anyone.”

“Oh, I’d heard him. Loud and clear. That was why I wanted to kill him.
Which basically showed how amazing the human mind was; how you could care about someone but want to slit his or her throat at the same time. Like having a sister who you wanted to punch right in the ovaries. You still loved her, you just wanted to sock her right in the baby-maker to teach her a lesson—not that I knew from experience or anything.”

“How do you not know that you mean the world to me? I haven’t made it clear enough?”
“I don’t know,” I stuttered. “Do you love me?”
His gaze was so intent the entire world seemed to stop. “You tell me. I never stop thinking about you. I worry about you all the time. Every beautiful thing I see reminds me of you.”

I loved that Aiden was always doing puzzles when he was at home and especially when his stress was getting to him. I do puzzles (on an app) while listening to audiobooks all the time. It is relaxing and it is always nice when you can relate to a character. Both characters in this book were great. I loved that Aiden was such an introvert and he opened up to Van little by little. She was more of an extrovert, but she had secrets as well and opened up to him as they got to know each other. This was definitely a slow burn romance, but I love that things didn’t get intimate too quickly.

This book was told via duet narration and was narrated by Stephen Dexter and Emma Wilder. I had tried to listen to an earlier version of this audiobook that was narrated by Callie Dalton and I had to stop it within 10 minutes because her voice was so annoying. I am so glad the author had this redone and in duet no less! Stephen Dexter is one of my favorite male narrators and has a deep sexy voice which I just love, and Emma Wilder is a good choice for female narrator, she has a strong, clear and emotive voice.

This is a fairly long audiobook at 17 hours and 51 minutes. It is an updated edition with new content in addition to the new narrators and duet narration. The previous audiobook was only 16 hours, so that is nearly 2 hours of new stuff. Like I said, I didn’t get very far in the old edition, but I am usually of the opinion that the more the better. I love it when long stories like this are in one book instead of spread out in 2 or 3 books.